Created by etching single continuous lines or by clearing out the hard-stones and the brush of the plain revealing the fine dust underneath, the mysterious Nazca lines in the Peruvian coastal desserts, about 400 kilometres (248.55 mi) south of its capital, Lima, are a World Heritage.
These bunch of pre-Columbian geoglyphs comprising 10000 lines in total, covering almost 1000 square kilometres in area — measuring between 30 metres and 9 km wide, are best visible from the nearby hilltops or better still from the air.
Figurative And Abstract Illustrations
The formations are both figurative and abstract either inspired by the natural world or affected by imagination. The figurative diagrams include nature's resources like flowers, plants, and trees. It also includes insects and animals like spider, lizard, hummingbird, pelican, monkey, and even a killer whale. Non- figurative depictions range from squiggly lines, spirals, triangles, rectangles, various geometric motifs, and oddly shaped fantastic figures.
First Sighting
It was first reported by Toribio Mejia Xesspe, a Peruvian archaeologist who discovered it in 1927 and went on to further study the phenomena. Within three years the news about it began to fan out, and by the 1930s, these mysterious markings began to enjoy a wider mileage with the of tourists resulting in an increment in the air traffic to the site.
By the way, it's only a myth that they can only be seen from the air or from an elevated place. They can be seen while on foot, just the way Xesspe came across them.
Ancient But Advanced
The earliest markings made with piled-up stones were found to date as far as 500 BC. It is thought that most of these illustrations were carried out between 200 BC to 500 AD, when, a tribe of people known as Nazcas inhabited that region.
The ancient, prehistoric, and archaeological culture of the Nazca which is thought to have been prevalent between 100 BC and 800 AD, in the arid river valleys of the Rio Grande de Nazca drainage and the Ica Valley was very ahead of its times. They had devised engineering feats to successfully bring underground water to the surface for irrigation. Some theorists connect this effort of trying to channel water resulting in the necessity of the lines.
Some More Speculations
Since there's no evidentiary indication, everything is a conjecture. Some think it's a representation of constellations, while others think of them as pilgrimage-routes leading to sacred places like Cahuachi, their ceremonial place and one of their largest settlements, which overlooks more than 40 mounds, including pyramids made of adobe.
